Reciprocity without reciprocal pronouns

Authors

  • Takanobu Nakamura The University of Edinburgh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3765/salt.v31i0.5093

Abstract

In this paper, I claim that reciprocity consists of three independent
semantic components, namely (i) the distributivity component, (ii) the anaphoricity
component and (iii) the disjointness component. I show that a distributor sorezore
in Japanese induces a reciprocal reading when the configuration between sorezore
and its antecedent violates Condition B. Adopting the plural dynamic semantic
framework (van den Berg 1996; Nouwen 2007; Brasoveanu 2007: among others), I
propose that the co-reference condition of sorezore is collectively evaluated, but its
scope domain is distributively evaluated. As a result, sorezore and its antecedent
are co-referential at the level of plural individuals, but disjoint at the level of
atomic individuals, deriving a reciprocal reading. This suggests that the disjointness
condition is not hard-wired in the semantics of sorezore. I further discuss other
reciprocal strategies in Japanese and in other languages and suggest that distributivity
and anaphoricity are not always encoded to a single entry, either.

Downloads

Published

2021-12-31

Issue

Section

Articles